IF THERE BE THORNS

By Maggie Griffin

CHAPTER 8: For You

**********

By the time the wave reached its full height, the energy from Genie's blast had loaded it with fiery power, the boiling point breaking inside it, and charging it with a more destructive force then any spell Sadira had ever conjured.

It fell towards the Earth Elemental.

In the chaotic noise and destruction, the events that followed were impossible to register until they were over.

A piercing cry over the torrent of the sand and fire wave, one of torment and denial. Then the cry turned to suffering for a split second before it was choked off completely, searing hot sand sealing the lips forever.

A shout of triumph turned to anguish as the smoke cleared to reveal the battlescene.

Then and only then, could everyone see the truth of what had happened in that crucial moment. Arbutus half-lay on the charred grass some feet away, his face twisted into an expression of horror and disbelief.

Sadira had collapsed on her knees, her lips trembling and her eyes widened in shock.

Moments later, a combination of hysterical screaming filled the garden.

Aini was not amongst those screaming.

Not was she amongst those that watched on in silent anguish.

Her fragile body lay, still and at peace. Buried.

In that moment, all was made clear in the subsiding chaos. Ai had thrown Arbutus out of the way, but fallen before she herself could have dodged to safety from the fiery sands that descended from the sky above. Buried.

"N...no...," Arbutus managed to stammer. "No..."

"AINI.....," Sadira was the first to move, launching herself the short distance away from the sandy heap before them, her hands digging furiously at the overflow. As she tried, they slowly formed burned callouses. "AI?"

"GET AWAY FROM HER!" Arbutus had moved in moments, and shoved Sadira to the side so violently she landed on her shoulder with a pained cry.

Jasmine and Aladdin stood side by side, not daring to move. To even speak. Jasmine's eyes had misted over with tears that threatened to flow freely over her cheeks. Tears that would take long to dry once they began to fall.

"What have we done...," she moaned, her voice barely above a whisper. Strained with sorrow.

Arbutus dug with renewed fury, cursing ever grain of sand his hands parted. Every bit of magic that sparked around him as he worked feverishly to try and save the creature that lay, already dead. Buried.

A choked moan escaped his lips suddenly, as from the sand emerged a small hand, sand flowing freely in between the slim fingers.

Over the deep red and brown burns.

Arbutus froze, his hand coming up slowly to touch the fingers that emerged from the sand heap gingerly. To feel their stiffness, their lifelessness.

He turned, and shut his eyes tightly. If he had been human, he would have gagged from the turmoil of emotions that filled him that moment. He did not need to dig further to know there would be no saving her. Somewhere within that sand, Ai lay dead. Her body burned by the scorching grains of sand, filled with the heat and power of hatred. Misguided, foolish hatred. A hatred she had died to stop.

Arbutus didn't want to dig her up. He did not want to see her ruined body. Nevertheless, he sat to once more, his actions much slower but all the more laboured. He owed her that much. Owed her the respect of a burial outside the hatred that had destroyed her.

Jasmine stepped forward, coming to kneel beside Arbutus to help him dig. They worked together in silence for a few moments, recovering more and more of Ai.

"Arbutus, I'm so....," Jasmine started, the tears long started to flow down her red cheeks.

Arbutus did not turn to face her. "Shut up!" He spoke before she could finish, his voice tone-less and hollow.

Jasmine stayed silent.

They worked for nearly an hour before they managed to uncover her. By that time, every person in the garden, from the life that had invaded it that day, to the plants that made it their home, had begun to dig. The sand had cooled slowly, making it easier on them. Nevertheless, the small burns they did obtain bothered noone, and nobody dared to complain.

By evening, every grain of sand had been removed from Ai's still body. Sadira had brought her cloak and let it flow down over the small form, no longer able to deal with looking at the consequences of their hatred. It was too much.

"She...she'll be buried properly! We'll take her to Agrabah, and the Sultan...," Aladdin started, kneeling by Ai.

"You will leave her! I will bury her myself...where she loved most. Try to stop me, and I will kill you!" Arbutus broke in. His voice remained tone-less and monotone. But despite that, something deep inside it promised a rage unlike any other should they deny him.

Once again, silence followed.

Night descended, and found them all at the waterfall. The water had darkened, and the flowers no longer laughed. Instead, their remained in the air a heaviness that weighted down everyone that was present. That would weight down anyone that ever stood in that place again.

There, they buried her, in a tightly spun coffin of flowers and vines.

They returned later, to the front gate of the Garden. Some with tears that had been flowing for long, some with an empty, horrible silence that ate them away none the less.

As the intruders left one by one, it was not until they stood on the other side of the gate that Arbutus spoke for the last time.

"She died to stop this. I will not waste her death in pursuing revenge. But I tell you now-and this is a promise, not a warning-that if I see any of you anywhere near here, ever again, I will descend into Agrabah to find you, and your city will see death as it never has!"

With that, he slammed the gates, and thick vines broke the surface beneath it to entwine around the bars, sealing and locking them from the outside forever.

They flew back to the city in silence, nobody talking. When they parted that night, some wept bitterly, while some fell against the walls and sat staring at nothing in particular, clearing their minds and concentrating on a silent sort of mourning.

In his garden, Arbutus stood by the waterfall.

And wept.

**********

Next (YES, it does continue...), Chaos decides to have a say.....